"I write, not for children, but for the child-like, whether they be of five, or fifty, or seventy-five." George MacDonald

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I have been very irregular in my posting of late. I am going post this conclusion and then take time off until the end of the year. I plan to reevaluate the time spent posting stories on this blog.

They all put their luggage inside the old two-story farmhouse which was painted a brilliant white and was nestled in a small grove of shade trees. It sagged just a little bit on one side. Grampa Johnny said it was mostly because it was over a hundred years old, but it had been that way for at least the last fifty years because it was that way when he first met Gram Susie and that was “a long time ago” he said with a smile aimed at Gram Susie. She blushed slightly and smiled back.

It wasn’t really a big farm. It had just a few fields for pasture for the horses and cows. There was a creek that ran through the property with a swimming hole and a couple of places that were good for pretending you were fishing while you were really just taking a nap. They had a large vegetable garden, a medium sized barn, a hen house inside a fenced in area for the chickens, a pig pen and all the usual farm machinery sitting on the side of the barn under a shelter. Stanley made it his business to run all over the farmyard to look at everything pulling his father behind him and asking a hundred questions about everything. Grampa Johnny tried to keep up with them but usually arrived in time to answer one question and then off Stanley went to his next destination. They kept this up for at least an hour.

After everyone got unpacked and cleaned up. They sat down in the big country kitchen and had a big supper of fried chicken, baked ham, mashed potatoes, freshly picked peas and a garden salad. For dessert, there was a cherry pie with homemade ice cream. The men helped to clear away the dishes and then went outside to sit under a tree. The ladies washed up the dishes and then joined them just as the sun was beginning to set. They sat, looking at the setting sun, talking and laughing until it was too dark to see. Stanley had just begun chasing fireflies when Mrs. Johnson informed him that it was time for him to take a bath and get ready for bed. After some complaint, Mrs. Johnson took him by the hand and escorted him into the house. Grampa Johnny told Pastor Johnson about some new books he had gotten and wanted to show him.

As most of them were headed into the house, Gram Susie touched Susie on the shoulder, sat down next to her and said, “Susie is there something you wanted to talk about?” Susie looked up at her Grammie and said. “Yes, there is. You see while we were on the train, I met this girl named Michelle. She actually goes to my school and well, we got talking and I was able to introduce her to Jesus and she accepted Him as her Saviour.” Gram Susie took both of Susie’s hands, “I am very proud of you little girl! Leading someone to know Jesus as their Saviour is just about the most important thing that anyone can do. What are you concerned about?” Susie looked up at the stars that were beginning to fill the night sky, “Grammie, I’m not sure how to pray for Michelle. I don’t want her to lose her new faith while she is visiting with her grandparents. I want Jesus to stay very close to her and guard her.”

Gram Susie, smiled and put her arm around her granddaughter, “Let’s pray together. Ok?” Susie nodded her head and then closed her eyes. Gram Susie prayed, “Dear God, please watch over Michelle with some special angels, keep her safe from the devil and surround her with people that love you like Susie here & I do. We love you Lord Jesus and we thank you for coming down to earth and dying for our sins. Help us to keep telling other people about you until you come back. Amen” Susie echoed the Amen and gave her Grammie a hug, “Thanks, Grammie. I knew you would know what to pray and I feel a lot better about it now.”

The two walked back to the farmhouse in the dark, hand in hand.

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The next morning Johnny got up to see the sun streaming into his bedroom window. “Wonderful, a sunny day for a change” he thought to himself. “Dad said that he had something special that he wanted to do with me today. I wonder what it is?”

Johnny quickly got himself ready and went down to breakfast. His father was already at the table finishing his breakfast. “Hurry up son, we’ve got to get a move on and go see that something special I told you about.” Johnny poured himself some breakfast cereal and ate quickly and talked to his dad about a variety of things trying to get a hint about what the something special was and it did no good.

After finishing breakfast the two of them walked toward the section of their neighborhood where people had their stores. They walked past Mr. Anderson’s hardware store and it was closed. That was odd because it was normally open this hour of the morning. Johnny was surprised when his father wanted to go to Uncle Klaus & Aunt Harriet’s grocery store where Johnny worked. Uncle Klaus was finishing up with a customer at the cash register and motioned for them to come to him. “Thank you very much, Mrs. Olsen, I’ll have that roast for you tomorrow,” he told the customer as she gathered up her bags and left the store.

“Robert, I am so glad that you are here now. We have a few minutes and Harriet can watch the store.” He called to his wife, “Sweetheart, Robert and Johnny are here. Can you watch the front of the store for a few minutes?” “Yes I can, I am just finishing up with the Avocados, you boys go on out back for Johnny’s special surprise” came Aunt Harriet’s voice from the produce section.

“Johnny, you and your father come with me. We have something to show you out back.” Uncle Klaus walked quickly to the back of the store and opened the big swinging double doors that lead to the back room. Johnny and his father followed closely behind.

Once in the back room, Uncle Klaus headed for the back door that leads out into the alley where the delivery trucks come. He opened the back door and held it open for Johnny and his father to walk out into the alley. When Johnny stepped out into the alley, he saw Mr. Anderson standing with a bicycle. It was just like the one that he had saved up his money for. Mr. Anderson’s face broke out into a big wide grin. Johnny’s father touched him on the shoulder, “son Mr. Anderson, your Uncle Klaus and I have arranged a little surprise for you. Do you remember that bike that you saved up for and then Mr. Anderson had to sell?” Johnny looked at the bike and then up at his dad, “Yes…I sure do.” Then he looked at the bike again and at Mr. Anderson again and then at Uncle Klaus and then at the bike again.

Mr. Peterson leaned down and spoke directly to Johnny, “Son, we sort of got together and wanted to get you another one just like it. Mr. Anderson was able to special order one from the manufacturer exactly like the other one, Uncle Klaus and Mr. Anderson and I decided that we wanted you to have this as a gift from us. You don’t have to pay anyone for it and there is nothing that you did to earn it. It is just a free gift to you from us.”

Johnny tried for several seconds to say thank you but nothing would come out. Then suddenly he let out a “Yippee!” That seemed to break open the flow and Johnny rushed over to where Mr. Anderson was standing and he just repeated, “Thank you, Mr. Anderson. Thank you, Uncle Klaus, Thank you, Dad. Wow! Wow! Wow! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

Finally, he turned to his father and said, “Would you mind if I rode it home, Dad?” Mr. Peterson was laughing and said, “I think that would be fine son. I would, I think that we all would be surprised if you didn’t”

Johnny repeated several more thank yous, put on the helmet hanging from the handlebars, jumped on the bike and headed for home.

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One month later, when the Johnson family had finished their visit at the farm in Millville, they headed home on the train. Susie wanted to see the countryside again and wanted to see if that same seat in the observation car was free. As Susie headed up the stairs to the observation level, she heard a familiar voice. “Look here in Romans 5:8 it says that, ‘God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us!’ Does that make sense?”

Susie couldn’t believe her ears. She could see Michelle sitting with two other girls in that same seat sharing the gospel with them. Michelle looked up and saw Susie. She smiled a huge grin and invited Susie to sit with them.

When Susie and Michelle talked later, Susie found out that Michelle’s grandparents were also Christians and had been praying for her for a long time. They had encouraged her and taught her much about being a Christian. And that’s not all. Michelle’s mother had gotten a really good new job and found a house for them to live in within a few blocks of Susie, Johnny, and Andrea. They could all get together and become the best of friends and grow as Christians together.

Michelle did ask Susie where she had learned all of those verses that she had shared with her. Susie replied, “Oh…I learned all of these verses in our AWANA program.”

Smiling broadly, Susie jumped up and said, “Come with me, I want you to meet my family.” Michelle pulled out a Kleenex from her purse, “Sure, I’d like that.”

When they got down to the sleeping compartment where her family was, she was all excited about introducing her new friend and was eager to tell her mom and dad about Michelle. As soon as she walked into the room Mrs. Johnson said, “Oh Susie, you are back just in time. We need to gather our things and put them back into our bags; the train will be arriving at our station in about 10 minutes. Please hurry and get packed.”

“Mom,” said Susie as she stepped aside to allow Michelle into the crowded compartment. “This is Michelle, I met her a little while ago up in the observation car and we got to talking and Michelle has just asked Jesus to be her Saviour and I want you all to meet her and get to know her in the little time that we have before we arrive.”

Mrs. Johnson got excited and welcomed Michelle as though she were a long-lost relative. (Well, that’s kind of true because now they are related as Christians.) They all talked excitedly and packed at the same time. Mrs. Johnson was delighted to know that Michelle was also from Crescent City and went to the same school as Susie, Johnny & Andrea. Pastor Johnson also became excited when he and Stanley returned to the little compartment. He sat down with Michelle and personally invited Michelle to bring her mother with her to church and Mrs. Johnson added that included an invitation for a Sunday afternoon meal with their family. Susie made sure that Michelle had their address and phone number so that they could see each other when they all got back to Crescent City. The train arrived at their stop and sad but happy goodbyes were said to Michelle. Susie took just a minute to say, “Michelle, I will be praying for you every day. I will ask God to help your mother find a good job and a place to live close to us. I am so glad that you asked Jesus into your heart. Here, I have a present for you. It’s a pocket Bible with all of those verses we looked up underlined in it. Call me when you get back to Crescent City, please!” She gave her a big hug and then got off the train, turned and waved goodbye to her new friend. Her eyes began to leak just a little with happy tears.

Michelle ran back up to her seat in the observation car and tried knocking on the window to get Susie’s attention, but the train depot was too noisy and she could not get their attention. As the train started up again to go on its way Michelle slumped down in her seat and said a little prayer. “Lord Jesus, this is Michelle. I’m not too good at praying yet, but thank you for Susie. Bless her a lot!” She began to cry softly into her folded arms.

On the platform, Susie was excited about leading Michelle to ask Jesus to be her Saviour. She began to pray that someone would pick up with Michelle where she left off. Then she saw her grandparents and began running toward them pulling her suitcase behind her. She got to Gram Susie first, let go of her suitcase and hugged her Gram really tightly. After a very long hug, Gram Susie pulled back and took a long look at her granddaughter and whispered to her, “Something tells me that you have something that you want to talk about. We’ll do that later, I promise.” Then Gram Susie saw Stanley hugging Grampa Johnny and said in her normal, strong voice, “Where is that grandson of mine? I want to hug him.” Grampa Johnny had a special hug for his son, Pastor Johnson. “What a fine family you have, son.” Pastor Johnson looked at his father and said with a smile on his face, “Thanks, Dad, I’m awful happy with them too.”

After both Gram Susie and Grampa Johnny had given Mrs. Johnson and hugs and greetings were given all around, everyone climbed into the van that Grampa Johnny had borrowed from their church and for the next several hours they traveled through the northern Minnesota countryside with big doses of talking, laughing and storytelling until they reached the farm.

Michelle fell back in her seat and looked out the window again with a very sad look on her face, “I’m not so sure where we’re gonna be living. That’s part of the trouble my mom is having. She lost her job and we got kicked out of where we were staying because we couldn’t pay the rent and she’s trying to find a new job and a new place for us to live.” Then, turning to Susie, she smiled, cleared her throat and said, “Tell me about where you live? What is it like?”

Susie smiled and said, “We live in a really cool neighborhood with lots of little stores just south of Green Lake. We live six blocks from the school and right next to Grace Neighborhood Church. My dad is the pastor there.”

Michelle scooted forward on her seat again, “Your dad is a preacher? Wow, he must be really smart about the Bible and stuff. I’ve tried to read the Bible and me and my mom go to church sometimes, but we never stick around in one place long enough to go regularly. I like church. I wish we could go more often.”

Susie lit up like a Christmas tree, “You could come to our church. If you go to our school, you’re close enough to go to our church. You’d really like it.” Susie paused for just a few seconds and began praying under her breath, “Lord, help me to tell Michelle about you.”

“Michelle” she began, “have you ever asked Jesus to be your Saviour?” Michelle looked out of the window again, “No, I like church and the people are usually nice, but…I could never be as good as that.” “As good as what?” said Susie. “You know, sweet and sinless enough to get into heaven. Church is as close as I’ll ever get to heaven. I may not look like it to you, but, I’ve gotten into a good deal of trouble, I’ve…I’ve…well, you don’t really need to know. I don’t like talking about it.” Michelle pulled her legs back up underneath her again, crossed her arms and buried her face into them.

“You know Michelle, you don’t have to be good to get saved and go to heaven. I’m not all that good all the time, but I know that Jesus forgives my sins when I confess them to Him and because I have asked Him to be my Saviour, I will get to go to heaven and you can too. Do you want to know how I know?”

Michelle looked up from her arms and began to look straight into Susie’s eyes. “How?” she said. Susie switched over to the other seat next to Michelle and pulled out her pocket new testament. “Can I show you some verses from the Bible that will tell you?” Michelle looked intently at Susie and sat up, “Yes, I’d like that.”

“It’s actually all right here in the Epistle of Paul to the Romans, first we begin with Romans 3:23 which says that ‘All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’. You already told me that you know that you’re not perfect and, you know what? Nobody is.” “Boy you got that right” responded Michelle. Susie, continued, “In Romans 6:23a it says that ‘…The wages of sin is death…’ that means that all of us are going to die from our sin, but this kind of death means that we are all going to go to hell when we die.” Michelle shuddered, “I don’t like that. I thought that you were going to show me that I can go to heaven. I already know about hell.” Susie smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll get to that. I just want to make sure that you understand about your sin.” “Oh, I understand all right, let’s get on to the other part” insisted Michelle. “You got it” continued Susie.

“In Romans 6:23b it says ‘…But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ You see salvation is a free gift from God to you! There is nothing that you can do to earn this gift.” “But, I always thought that I needed to be good to go to heaven. Are you sure about that? What about all the things that I have done?” replied Michelle.

Susie turned a few pages to another verse, “Michelle, I know what you mean and look here in Romans 5:8 it says that, ‘God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us!’ Does that make sense?”

“Wait just a minute,” Michelle turned toward Susie, “What do you mean when you say that when Jesus died, He died for us. Who is ‘US’?” Susie looked right back at Michelle and said, “All of us. That includes me…and it includes you.”

“Whoa, I never knew that before! How does that work?” Susie’s face lit up again and turned a few more pages, “That’s my next point, listen to this…in Romans 10:13 it says ‘Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!’ it doesn’t say anything about being good. All it says is that you should call on Jesus and you can be saved.”

Michelle looked thoughtfully out the window for a second and then said, “Susie, what does it say there what I have to do?” Susie answered her quickly, “It says here in Romans 10:9,10 that ‘…If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.’”

Michelle leaned back against the window, “Wow, that’s a lot to take in all at once. What do you mean that if I confess my sins to Jesus and accept Him as my Saviour that I can go to heaven? Do you really think that He wants me, Susie?” Susie leaned forward, “Listen to this, John 3:16 ‘For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.’ Michelle, that means He died for me AND He died for you.”

Michelle’s eyes began to swell up & glisten in the sun, “You really think that He died for me? Oh, that would mean so much to me.” Susie laid her hand on her new friend’s shoulder, “Michelle, I know that He died for both of us. Would you like to ask Jesus to be your Saviour right now?” Michelle responded, “Oh Susie, yes I would, how do I do that?”

Susie took both of Michelle’s hands, “Pray with me, I’ll lead you.” Michelle nodded, closed her eyes and bowed her head. Susie did the same, “Lord Jesus, you know that Michelle here wants to be your child, wants to know that you love her and died for her. I have shown her that from your Bible, Jesus. Now she would like to talk to you herself. Repeat after me, Michelle. Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. I also know that you are the Son of God and died for my sins so that I can be forgiven. I want to be your child, Lord. Please forgive my sins and come into my heart and be my Saviour. Thank you, Lord for loving me so much. Amen!”

After they finished praying, Michelle’s eyes were flowing with tears and she hugged Susie tightly, “Thank you Susie.”

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It was quitting time for the day for Johnny. He hung up his apron and said his goodbyes to his aunt and uncle and headed home. He walked past Mr. Anderson’s hardware store where his…that bicycle used to be on display in the window. There was a riding lawn mower there now and a big gas barbecue. Johnny took a deep breath and let out a big sigh and then headed for home, kicking all the little rocks that he could find on the sidewalk all the way. It seemed like an especially long walk today.

In Crescent City, Susie’s best friend Johnny was at Uncle Klaus’s store taking apart those big boxes that fruit and vegetables come in so that the boxes could be put into the recycle bin behind the store. He stopped for a minute to think about his friend Susie sitting on the train having fun watching the countryside rolling by. He heaved a big sigh and went back to work on the boxes. It was still two hours before he would be done for the day.

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On the train, Stanley was sitting in the sleeper car with Mrs. Johnson listening to stories about Gram Susie & Grampa Johnny. Mrs. Johnson was telling him about the time that Gram and Grampa rescued a boy named Whitney from a forest fire. You see Whitney and his pals had gone out into the woods to spoil an overnight camp out that the Sunday school was having at a cabin in the woods. “Oh, that must have been something like the cabin that Susie stayed in at the wildlife park when Mr. Christopherson saved her whole class from that bear and Jimmy Barski almost got killed and then asked Jesus to become his Saviour,” said Stanley excitedly. “Go on and tell more of the story mom, it’s really exciting!” Mrs. Johnson picked up at the part where they were having a really hard time finding their way out and couldn’t move fast because Whitney had broken his ankle. They were trapped in a circle of fire, and Gram Susie prayed (like she always did in situations like that), and God changed the wind so that they could get out of the fire safely. Stanley jumped up and down with excitement. “Wow! Tell me another one mom, please!” Mrs. Johnson smiled, “I’m sure that Grampa Johnny will tell you more stories during your visit. I think that now you should go for another tour of the train with your father and work off some of that energy.

“Let’s go sport, I think that it’s time for another tour of the train,” Pastor Johnson smiled at his wife, took Stanley by the hand and off they went. They had already walked from one end of the train to the other four times today, and it was only three o’clock in the afternoon. This time, after their tour, they ended up in the snack bar telling each other riddles, knock-knock jokes and laughing a lot.

Susie spoke up to the girl sitting across from her, “Hi, my name is Susie. What’s your name and where are you going?” The girl had been alternately staring out the window and absent-mindedly turning the pages of an old magazine that had been left on the seat. “Huh? Did you say something? I was thinking about someplace else.” Susie smiled and repeated her question. The girl responded with a small smile, “Oh, my name is Michelle. I’m going to see my grandparents for…awhile. What about you?” Susie perked up and said, “Wow Michelle, I’m going to visit with my grandparents too. They live in upper Minnesota in Millville. Where are you going to?” Michelle scooted around in her seat so she could curl her legs up underneath her and then said, “St. Paul, I think. At least that’s where my ticket is to. I haven’t been to visit with them since I was really little and don’t remember them very much, but…right now…my Mom is having some…trouble so, I am going to stay with them for a little while.” Susie could see that Michelle was having some trouble of her own when she talked about her mom, so she decided to change the subject. “I’m glad that you can go and visit with your grandparents, I’m sure that you will have a great time. Where do you and your mom live? I’m from Crescent City.”

Michelle’s face lit up when she heard that, “Wow, that’s where I live too. What school do you go to?” Susie scooted forward in her seat, “Cascadia.” Michelle bounced in her seat and leaned forward, “Me too! Who do have for social studies?” Susie responded, “Mrs. Alexander, she is a really fun teacher.” Michelle said, “Wow, She is! I had her last year. I must be a year ahead of you and we just never ran into each other. How cool is that?” “Totally cool,” said Susie brimming with excitement now. “Where do you live? Maybe we live close enough to visit with each other when we get back home” she replied.

“We get to go to spend a whole month this summer with Gram Susie & Grampa Johnny! In Millville? Wow! That’s great mom & dad!” Susie was so excited that her entire face lit up and she grinned her widest grin as the family finished their dinner one evening in late June. Her father, Pastor Tom Johnson, responded, “We thought that it would be a good time for a visit since we have that pastor’s conference in Chicago in July and then we’ll come back to the farm for a month while I work on my book.”

While Susie began to discuss with her mother what clothes she should bring on the trip, since it was only a week away, Stanley began to ask his father what Millville was like. He could not remember much about it. He had only been there once and that was when he very little. At the same time, he started trying to finish his dinner in big gulps. After trying to swallow a particularly big bite, he began to hiccup. “Whoa, there sport,” his father said, scooting his chair over closer to his young son. He put his hand on his back and offered him some water. “Here drink this water Stanley, it should help to get that big bite down and stop your hiccups.” Stanley took the glass and slowly began to drink it. After a couple of swallows, he handed it back to his dad, leaned back in his chair and took a couple of deep breaths. “Hiccup,” he went again. His father smiled at his son and said, “maybe we’ll just sit still here for a couple of minutes and wait for this to pass.”

Susie and Mrs. Johnson, still talking about what to pack for the trip, rose and began clearing away the dinner dishes and putting them into the dishwasher.

That evening Susie called her friend Andrea, “I’m so excited that we get to go to Millville. You’d love it there, I wish that you could come too. It’s where my grandparents both grew up in the Midwest, near the Canadian border. There are lots of lakes and trees there and my grandparents have a small farm. We’ll be able to help out with the farm animals and other chores around the farm. And, you’d just love my Gram Susie and Grampa Johnny. They are some of the neatest Christians you’ll ever get to meet. They were missionaries in Africa for the longest time and when they retired from Africa they moved back to my great-grandparents farm in Millville. We’re gonna have so much fun!” “I think you will too, Susie. I’ve never been to a real live farm” said Andrea. Susie said quickly, “Do you know what I want to learn? I want to learn how to milk a cow and collect eggs and…and…well, I don’t know, just everything!” Andrea laughed and said, “Yeah, it all sounds so exciting. I wish that I could go with you too, but my Mom & I are planning a trip to the ocean while you are gone. That will be fun too.”

The day of the trip to Millville arrived and found the Johnson family boarding the train at the Crescent City train station, getting settled into their compartment and watching the scenery pass by. Pastor Johnson kept Stanley busy with walking tours of the train. There was even a car with a playroom that Stanley could play in while his father enjoyed being able to sit for a minute. That evening they had a marvelous meal in the dining car and then settled snugly into their bunks to sleep while the train rolled on toward Millville.

The next morning, after breakfast, there was plenty of time for reading, sightseeing on the train and watching the scenery change.

After lunch, Susie went up to sit up in the observation car and look out the window at the hilly pastures dotted with cows and horses rolling by. She was wondering what it would be like to be on one of those farms when someone sat down in the seat opposite her. It was a girl that didn’t look much older than her and Andrea but, something was different about her. She seemed kind of lonely. Susie wondered what to say to her.

Johnny’s head was not sure now if he was coming or going. This was all too strange and an awful lot like that Bible story that he read before bed last night. He had to think.

But Jimmy interrupted his attempt at figuring this all out, “Come, brother” he said, “it is time that we go to our duties for the day.”

Johnny followed Jimmy down a long steep stairway, out of the building, along a walkway that seemed to be wedged in between a stable and a long series of workshops. They walked for quite awhile and Johnny could see that most of the men and boys were dressed much the same as he and Jimmy were. He saw no women or girls. Finally, Jimmy turned into a building that was very large on the inside. In fact, it seemed to be larger on the inside than it was on the outside. That was a very curious feature.

Inside this building were tall stacks of grain and other types of food. This was the King’s warehouse where he kept all of his supplies and trade goods. Jimmy took Johnny over to one wall where many tools were kept.

“Jonathan, take up your broom and begin your daily duties. Today we sweep the floors.” Jimmy said as he grabbed a broom and began walking toward the sacks of barley and oats.

Johnny heard two men arguing in the next aisle way. One was saying to the other, “You owe me and you had better pay me or I will have you thrown in prison and your goods sold. That will get me my money.”

The other man pleaded “Please do not do this, I beg of you. I have a wife and a daughter and a son. Who will care for them?”

“Hah, I will take them as my slaves that will complete the payment! I will call the kings guards right away.”

As Johnny walked past the aisle where the two men were arguing, he recognized the one that was threatening the other as the one that the King had pardoned just before his audience with the king. The other one (the one with the daughter and son) looked a lot Pastor Johnson, Susie’s dad. “Oh, this is getting really creepy now,” he thought to himself.

The man who had been pardoned by the King (and who was also the master of the storehouse), had the other man taken to prison and ordered the Kings guards to confiscate his property and to deliver the man’s family to his estate as slaves. He laughed as the man was being taken away still begging and pleading for mercy.

About midday, when they stopped to rest and have some water and bread, there was a commotion over where the master of the storehouse sat. It seems that the King had heard about what he had done and sent his guards to bring him back to see the king. Johnny decided to follow at a safe distance. He followed them along the walkway that led past all of the shops and the stable, up the stairway and down the long hallway with all of the tapestries that led into the great hall where the King and Queen sat.

The King was furious, he yelled at the master of the storehouse, “You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?”

The King then turned that wicked, unforgiving master of the storehouse over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay back his debt.

Johnny was stunned. He ran back to the storehouse as quickly as his legs could carry him. He looked for Jimmy to tell him what had happened and told the story in quick bursts as he was still out of breath from running and was gulping air in great big breaths.

When Johnny was done, Jimmy looked at him and said, “Jonathan, my brother, we both know that the King is a loving and kind king. He can also be very harsh when he needs to be. But, perhaps you have just learned that he is also fair and just. The master of the storehouse got what he deserved. Because we have been forgiven, we need also to forgive others.”

With that, Jimmy picked up his broom and returned to his work. Johnny did the same and spent the rest of the day sweeping up the storehouse. Johnny thought to himself, “Well, if I am stuck here in this place, at least I have a kind king that is just and fair. I will just have to learn to do the best that I can.”

At the end of the day, they returned their brooms to the wall where tools were kept. After an evening meal; he and Jimmy spent time talking. Johnny had a lot of questions about this new kingdom he was now living in. After the sun was well down, Jimmy put out the little lamp that they had in their room. They wished each other a good night. Johnny stretched and felt a lot of soreness in muscles that he didn’t know that he had before. He dropped back into his bed exhausted from the day’s work and began to pray as he did each night. Whatever else had changed in his life, he was sure that God was still there. Johnny thanked him for the events of the day and prayed for Jimmy, the King, and Queen. Then he prayed for his family back where he came from. As he was doing that, he fell into a deep sleep.

When Johnny woke up the next morning, he opened his eyes to find that he was back in his own old bed, in his own old house, in his own time. He jumped out of bed and rushed to tell the story to his mom & dad. They listened with interest but kept looking at each other with confused looks on their faces. When he was done, his father put his arm around his shoulders and told him that it was a wonderful story and that he should write it down sometime. He ate his breakfast quickly because he couldn’t wait to get to Sunday school that morning. Boy did he have a story to tell!

Now, Johnny was really getting a little concerned because he never spoke that way before, but he followed Jimmy and wondered where they were going and what was going to happen because he really did not know anything about any chariot.

As he followed Jimmy, he looked around him and saw that the same rough style of furniture was everywhere, the walls were rough stone and walls had large tapestries hanging from where the ceiling meets the walls. This was very confusing. He was really trying hard to figure out where he was, when this was and who he was.

When they got to the main hall where the throne room was, James leaned over to Johnny and whispered, “Jonathan, since you seem to be out of sorts, I will remind you that you need to approach the king with your head bowed and then when you get close to the throne, get on your knees and say, ‘By your leave, Your Majesty, your servant appears as requested.’”

While they waited for Johnny’s turn, there was an older man there who was pleading with the king for mercy. You see he owed a very great deal of money to the king and was unable to pay back the sum and had been dishonest in many of his dealings for the king. After some talking with his advisors, the king had decided that the man should be sent to prison, his land and belongings sold and his family sold into slavery.

The man burst into tears, dropped face down on the floor and pleaded with the king for mercy. He said that he repented of his dishonesty and promised to be completely fair and honest from then on.

“Please do not deal so harshly with me and my wife and small children Your Majesty! I will faithfully serve you for the rest of my days!”

The King looked at the Queen and she nodded her head. The king forgave his debts, admonished him to be honest and faithful and let him go.

“Oh, thank you, sire. You will not regret this generosity at all. I will serve you faithfully and honestly from this day forward.” Then he bowed nearly to the floor, backed away from the throne and nearly ran from the main hall talking excitedly.

Now it was Johnny’s turn. He took a quick look at Jimmy, nodded his head and walked slowly toward the throne. Even with his head bowed, Johnny took quick looks around the room, it was HUGE! The ceilings in this room seemed to reach up to the sky. There were very tall windows on each side, making the room very light and much cooler than the rest of the castle. As he approached the throne there was a very large, thick carpet.

The king looked sort of familiar.

Finally, he reached the appointed spot and kneeled down as Jimmy had told him and said loudly, “By your leave, Your Majesty, your servant appears as requested.”

There was a long silence and then a kindly voice said to him, “Rise, young Jonathan and face your King.”

Johnny stood up, took one look at the king and nearly fainted. Uncle Klaus was the King! Aunt Harriet was the Queen! Johnny shook his head and looked again and they were still there.

“Whoa! What was going on?” He thought to himself.

The king spoke again, “Young Jonathan, you have been a faithful servant and as a result, I advanced you enough gold to purchase a chariot that had captured your imagination. But, according to the Royal Treasurer, you have not kept up with the payments that you promised to make. What do you have to say for yourself?”

Johnny’s thoughts were racing around in his head trying to think of something to say, for he did not want to end up in prison, even if it was a dream prison. Johnny found himself bowing toward the king again and saying “Please, your majesty, if it pleases the King and his Queen, only allow me some more time. I am sure that I will be able to catch up on my payments. Please forgive your humble servant.” And with that, Johnny found himself back on his knees, head bowed low toward the floor.

Johnny could hear the Queen talking quietly to the King. He thought to himself, “She sure sounds like Aunt Harriet.”

Then the King spoke up, “Young Jonathan, the Queen and I have decided to forgive your debt due to your faithful service to us. Please rise. Your debt is forgiven. You may depart from our presence in peace.”

Johnny could not believe what he had heard. But, he decided that the best thing to do would be to thank them for their generosity and leave quickly before they changed their minds.

He bowed again and said, “Your servant is most grateful to his King and Queen. May you live forever! I pledge myself to you and will be indebted to you as long as I live.”

He began to back away from the thrones and, at the same time wondering, “Where did I learn to talk like that? This is VERY confusing.”

When he got back to where Jimmy was standing, waiting for him. He turned around, grabbed Jimmy by the arm and hurried out of the main hall.

“What just happened?” whispered Johnny to Jimmy. Jimmy stopped in his tracks in the hallway that headed back to their room. “The King and Queen just forgave you a huge debt that you could never repay.”